Over 950 student volunteers have been presented with the ALIVE Certificate for Volunteering by NUI Galway President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh.

The ceremony was attended by Galway City Mayor, Councillor Pearce Flannery.

NUI Galway students volunteered with a variety of local and national organisations throughout the year including Conservation Volunteers Galway, Galway Autism Partnership, Galway Civil Defence, and Croí to name a few.

Volunteers have also brought experiments to Galway schools through a wide range of science outreach workshops and participated in reading and mentoring through school homework clubs.

Ceremony guest, Robert Farrell, Head of Direct in Aviva which employs more than 350 people in Galway, said: “Caring more for the communities in which we live, is part of our DNA in Aviva Ireland.

“We carefully encourage the instinctive generosity of our employees, encouraging them to give of their time, skills and passion to their local communities.

“To facilitate this, we give them three days paid leave to volunteer for their local charities and we match the funds they raise for local causes. We commend the work of NUI Galway in promoting volunteerism amongst the student body.”

ALIVE is the student volunteering programme at NUI Galway and students are awarded Certificates to acknowledge their contribution to campus programmes and local and international community volunteering.

The ceremony is an annual event to encourage volunteering and to thank all the community partners for hosting student volunteers. This year the ALIVE programme worked with higher education institutions across Ireland to successfully launch StudentVolunteer.ie a national platform to match students to non-profits.

This year’s event is to highlight corporate social responsibility as employee’s growth and development through volunteering advance leadership skills and team building. Lorraine Tansey, Student Volunteer Coordinator at NUI Galway, said: “As future professionals, students are well placed to learn how volunteerism in their future is an opportunity company’s embrace.”

Annelise Garrison, NUI Galway student who volunteers with the Irish Cancer Society Charity Shop and the Galway Pride Festival, said: “By volunteering, I helped create a safe place for people to be themselves and celebrate their diversity.”

Darragh Doyle, NUI Galway student with Enable Ireland learned about sustainable fundraising and said, “We need volunteering to help raise the much needed funds so that these important services can continue. We also need awareness for the extent of the work that Enable Ireland provide.”

NUI Galway’s School of Law will host a half-day conference tomorrow, Tuesday, 17 April, focusing on the theme of ‘Homelessness, the housing crisis and socio-economic rights’.

The conference will take place in the Hardiman Building, NUI Galway, from 2.30pm-5.15pm.

Conference organiser, Dr Eoin Daly from NUI Galway’s School of Law, said: “This conference will bring together voices from both academia and civil society concerning what is arguably the most pressing social crisis in Ireland at present.”

The conference will bring together academic and civil society voices concerning legal and policy responses to the homelessness and housing crises. Confirmed speakers include: Niamh Randall, Simon Communities; Padraic Kenna, NUI Galway; Thomas Murray, An Cosán; and Martin O’Connor, COPE Galway.

The conference is held in assocation with the Masters in Public Law programme at NUI Galway.

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy sat down with teams from Galway Simon Community and COPE Galway last week, as part of the visit by the Taoiseach and four Ministers in Galway City.

Among the topics discussed were the controversial Project Ireland 2040 plan, affordable housing and HAP.

Karen Golden, CEO of Galway Simon Community said the visit was a welcome one.

“We were really delighted to welcome the Minister to our new emergency accommodation service for an impromptu meeting.

“The teams from both Galway Simon and COPE sat down with the Minister and we had a very open conversation about the homelessness crisis in Galway.

“We were able to discuss some of the proposed projects for Galway in the Project Ireland 2040 Plan and we put key questions to the Minister around the provision of social and affordable housing, as well as the extension of the Homeless HAP Scheme to Galway.

“We would like to extend our thanks to the Minister for accepting our invitation on the day to visit our service and for taking on board the feedback and questions from both teams in an open way,” she said.

Karen went on to say the visit allowed the Minister to get first-hand accounts of the issues that are faced locally and said that the meeting was a huge opportunity for both Galway Simon Community and COPE Galway to come together to advocate for those experiencing homelessness in Galway.

Minister Murphy has undertaken to respond to the charities on some of the key queries raised during the meeting and advised that he will be following up on key areas discussed.

Two weather warnings are currently in place for Galway.

Met Éireann issued a status yellow rain warning, saying that accumulations of 25 to 50mm are expected throughout the day and into tonight.

There is a potential for higher amounts on hills and mountains and localised spot flooding is possible.

The weather warning will remain in force until tomorrow morning at 6am.

There is a further status yellow warning for Wind which extends across the state. The weather chiefs have warned that south to southeast winds will reach mean speeds between 50 and 65km/h with gusts between 80 and 110km/h.

The winds will be strongest along Atlantic coastal counties at first but the strong winds will extend countrywide through the course of the Monday afternoon and evening.

There will be a shift in the weather from Wednesday though, with warmer temperatures and sunny spells forecast until Saturday at least.

Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has commented on a new Corporate Europe Observatory report which exposes the links between the European Commission and the finance industry.

The report singles out former Fianna Fáil minster and European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy for specific criticism.

Matt Carthy said that the fact that a Fianna Fáil politician has been singled out as one of the worst offenders when it comes to conflicts of interest and the financial industry’s influence on public policy is an indictment of the party’s approach to these issues.

He also said that it reflects a deeply embedded and deeply problematic culture in the EU institutions which ‘needs to end’.

The report on revolving doors at DG FISMA was published by the Corporate Europe Observatory yesterday.

The Midlands North West MEP said: “This report examines the Commission’s finance unit during the aftermath of the financial crisis, from 2008 until 2017, and shows an appalling level of influence by the finance lobby on European policy regarding financial stability.

“Four out of five of the former directors of DG FISMA during this period left the Commission only to go on to work directly in the finance industry or else for one of the industry’s lobby groups. Two out of the three of the Commissioners with responsibility for finance, and one of the three heads of unit for DG FISMA, did the same.

“Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McCreevy, who was Commissioner from 2004-2010 during a period of financial deregulation and the consequent financial crisis, is singled out for special mention in the report as the first former Commissioner to be ‘given the red light’ by the Commission when he tried to set up a bank shortly after leaving his post.

“The Commission insisted McCreevy observe the cooling-off period before taking his proposed role at NBNK investments as the links between his role in office and the new bank were so extremely stark that this brazen request was turned down – for the first time in history. But the Commission at the same time gave the green light to McGreevy to join the board of Ryanair, on which he still sits, immediately after leaving office and in spite of the fact that he had often dealt with Ryanair issues as Commissioner.

“Then just a week after the end of his 12-month cooling-off period, McCreevy joined the Bank of New York Mellon. As Commissioner, McGreevy had direct responsibility for deregulating the derivatives industry and he joined the derivatives trading unit of BNY Mellon. He also joined other financial firms Sentenial, World Spreads and Celsius Funds.”

NUI Galway’s inaugural Employability Award Ceremony was held today where 56 students were presented with their Award Certificate by President of the University Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh. 

The Employability Award is a recognition of learning and skills developed through work experience and extra-curricular activities.

Each event and workshop is carefully selected and co-ordinated to provide students with the opportunity to enhance their skills and employability.

Josephine Walsh, Head of the Career Development Centre at NUI Galway, said: “The award programme was designed by the Career Development Centre to increase students’ employability skills, empower them to make successful transitions towards fulfilling careers and equip them with a framework for lifelong career management.”

Employer partners have indicated that students’ confidence and their ability to articulate skills developed through the award will make recruitment of NUI Galway graduates more attractive.

Students from across all disciplines participated in the Award programme and have reported excellent outcomes.

Vincent McBrien, a second year Drama, Theatre & Performance student who completed the award said: “I have gained many personal benefits that will help me in my career journey. As a result of completing the award I am more confident in myself and my work and have a new found motivation which will allow me to step up to every new opportunity that comes my way.”

Siobhan Cullen, a third year Earth and Ocean student, said: “I believe that I have gained a more competent approach to choosing and securing a career through participating in the Employability Award Programme. Through an elevated sense of self-awareness, I can move forward and plan for the future with confidence.”

The NUI Galway Employability Award contributes to a number of other student awards, including the internationally recognised ALIVE award for Volunteering, and will be available for all students to participate in from September 2019.